


Life is no Song

by FairMaidofAngoulme



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-14
Updated: 2013-09-20
Packaged: 2017-12-26 12:21:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/965864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FairMaidofAngoulme/pseuds/FairMaidofAngoulme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. </p><p>Rhaegar gets what he wishes for: he defeats the Rebellion, ascends the throne with his two wedded wives, Elia and Lyanna, defangs the Lannisters, gets the fealty of the Baratheons and the retreat of the Starks to Winterfell. </p><p>Yet life is no song and absolute power corrupts absolutely - the lone wolf and his wolf cubs simmer in cold hate, the Martells pledge allegiance as long as Aegon remains his heir, the Arryns keep their distance, the lions lick their wounds and the Game of Thrones still goes on with his children as pawns.  With republican sentiments.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Arthur Dayne leaves the Tower of Joy and aids Rhaegar in the Battle of the Trident.  
> With his help, Rhaegar defeats Robert who is spirited away from certain death by Ned Stark.  
> Ned Stark becomes the leader of the rebels and Rhaegar overthrows his father to become King.
> 
> Each Chapter has 3 Vignettes,
> 
> All Thanks to George RR Martin.

 

***

 _\_ "Oh Ned," cried Robert, his mouth spurting with blood. He fell down on his knees, his armor pierced, his war hammer slipping from his finger into the water at the Trident. And then he spoke no more. The Dragon Prince lifted his sword to his shoulder to cut off his head but Eddard Stark, single blade in hand, flew towards him.

On horseback, he spirited the dead Robert and heard the Dragon Prince's swift sword miss his head.

"Noo!" cried Jon Arryn as Rhaegar Targareyen narrowly missed Eddard's ear.

A moment of silence was followed by the roar of an old defeated man.

"Flee" cried the honorable Arryn "Flee for another day". "Retreat" cried the small Howland Reed, "Retreat!!".

The rebel army needed no more warning and fled on horseback. Some slipped due to the water. Some men died with swords in their backs. There was chaos and pursuit but Eddard and his men were gone. The Dragon Prince sadly smiled. "And so it ends..."

A low guttural sound became a deafening roar. "Rhaegar, Rhaegar, Rhaegar" cried the remaining men. "KING, KING, KING". Arthur Dayne smiled a toothless smile. His teeth had been knocked down by Robert and he could no longer walk, but he had never seen a more glorious day. The red sun set in the sky and the river in the Trident was as blood.

****

 

Eddard Stark spoke to an exhausted Arryn who sounded ancient.

"We still could have killed him. It was because of the Sword of the Morning."

They spoke no more. The dragon prince has won the Battle of the Trident. When the Sword of the Morning mysteriously arrived at the Trident, the rebel army paled at the sight of his pale sword and he wore Robert to the point of exhaustion. Robert the arrogant, like his foolish ancestor, ran blindly towards Rhaegar in open combat with a war hammer in his hand. The prince returned the favor and he was gutted, near death, before his beloved friend Eddard Stark spirited him away

_Before I spirited him away._

"It is not over," said Jon Arryn, "Robert is near death but you are not. Lead our 8000 strong now for they are bereft and in broken spirit. And it is as well. It was your sister he took at swordpoint, your brother he murdered, your father he burned. You Starks are the lords of Winter and Winter has truly come." He smiled to himself. "You both are my sons. He was my prince but you are my sons. And I shall die before I let King Aerys take off even a strand of your hair."

Eddard Stark looked at him weakly and said nothing.

"Tywin Lannister will now declare for Prince Rhaegar" Jon Arryn said sadly. "Or not"

Eddard's grey eyes rested on Arryn's blue. "Let Tywin declare for whomever he desires. He is no kingmaker."

"He is not," Jon Arryn said, "And you have other things to worry about. Your men need rest."

Eddard's grey eyes remained still.

"I shall be led by Northmen. They serve me faithfully. They shall be my Kingsguard."

"Lead with whomever you want", said Arryn, "just win and let Brandon, Rickard and Lyanna have justice. Remember my heirs, burned down by King Aerys cruelty."

"How shall I forget," Eddard Stark said, "You do me wrong to think that I forgot."

_Brandon. Rickard. Lyanna._

Their ghosts called out to Eddard Stark every night for vengance. They wept and wept and howled in the night. _Would the living could hear_. He sharpened his sword, Ice, in silence and listened.   _Lyanna_. He whispered. _Lyanna. Is she alive? dead? Had she fled with the Married Prince from Robert? _Does she know about Brandon and Rickard?__

Eddard Stark kept polishing Ice. _Lyanna, Lyanna, Lyanna._

 

***

King's Landing opened its gates in celebration. There was gaiety and laughter. The war was not yet won but it is nearly. And Prince Rhaegar was here. King Aerys left the Red Keep and danced naked in the streets.

"My father has gone quite mad", said the Dragon Prince to Rhaella Targareyen, the Queen Mother, 

 "He was always a little mad." Rhaella looked at him, "Even as a child, he was, obsessed with someone who will never be his. He tried to take her away from her Lord husband. Yet the gods always punish such arrogance."

She then spoke to him, "How are you child? "

"Good," he said softly, "Lyanna is my wife now. Is that right?"

"You never asked me before son." she said, "I don't know. As a king, you can do what you like."

Rhaegar looked at her.

"Your father will not be king for long. His madness makes him experience fits. Yesterday night, Jaime Lannister saw his guards try to light Flea Bottom on fire. Make changes - before your head is on the city-wall. With that spider whispering in his ear, he will not care that you are his son."

She kissed his forehead.

"If you waited, I would have given you a Daenerys. You would not have needed a northern girl."

Rhaegar said nothing.

 

***


	2. Lions and Wolves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A silent coup takes place in King's Landing - Aerys is declared dead under suspicious circumstances and Rhaegar ascends the throne.  
> Lyanna sends a messenger on behalf of Rhaegar to Eddard Stark offering peace  
> Tywin Lannister sacks Winterfell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Each Chapter than 3 Vignettes. Thank to George RR Martin.

****

Ser Jaime Lannister had once said that the iron throne was magnificient in a horribly brutal, uncomfortable sort of way. Its thousand blades protuded like daggers, uneven and dangerous, black and twisted. It was no gift for a King, but it was beautiful and his - Rhaegar's - Aegon the Conqueror's one legacy and sole heir. _Why a throne made from a thousand swords and not a pyramid of the thousand heads of Aegon's fallen enemies, those sad, honorable and doomed men?_ That question nagged at him often in the silence of the night. _I am no different and it is my burden as well._ _I shall feast and drink from a golden cup placed on top of a pyramid of a thousand heads._ _I shall cut off the heads of the ones they love and expect them to bend their knees. Ay, even my love's brother._

 _It all falls on me_ , he thought sadly. _No other man can bear the burden._

"The prince who was promised has brought in his wake a thousand deaths but it should not be in vain".  He spoke to himself, "He shall save them from Doom and they shall praise and forget the thousand dead. He shall bring back the old glory and the red dragon flag shall fly high. And yes, perhaps, dragons shall walk this earth again." He smiled and sat on the Iron Throne absentmindedly.

His dreams crashed still when he felt a tug. _"_ You bastard!" spit Aerys _, "_ You bastard, I knew you would try to usurp your true father"

 _"_ Father," Rhaegar said softly, in response to Aerys's purple eyes, raging like wildfire.

 _"_ I should have cut you out from your bitch mother when you were in her womb! Barren bitch." Aerys was mad and laughing, "The bitch couldn't even give me a daughter. My Joanna gave me one and she opened her legs to me just once.  And you turncoat, you are no King and you have no right on this throne, none. Why do you dare touch her, turncoat. Varys told me of your men in the Trident and their plan. Think I didn't know..." he gurgled and spit fell from his mouth, uncontrollably.

 _"_ Father..." Rhaegar said, alarmed. Aerys pushed him on the throne whose many swords were pressing against his skin. He resisted and slipped, his hand grazing one of the thousand swords. Aerys forcefully pushed his wrist onto the tip of a sword on the Iron Throne. The throne was soaking in his own blood.

"Father, if you shall not stop, I shall command and you shall die!" Rhaegar said, alarmed. "Father!"

 _"_ I should have killed you at birth. You have brought this scourge upon us with your love for the Northern bitch. You should have just fucked her, like I fucked Joanna". The sword gutted Rhaegar's hand and he bit his lip to scream, 

" _F_ ather, I shall die!", Rhaegar finally forced himself to attack his father and tried to wrest him away from himself.

"Then die you whelp! Away with treachery"  Aerys pressed his feet on Rhaegar's Lap and smiled a savage smile.

"Ser Jaime!"

 _Who knew how long the lion crouched in the darkness?  T_ he white cloaked Lion plunged the bright sword into his father's back. His father stepped back, turned to look at the golden haired knight and at Rhaegar's bleeding hand. He then laughed.

The Lion plunged the sword into the same wound that grew redder and larger. Rhaegar watched in horror as his father clawed his face, gurgled and then died.

"Rhaegar, are you well," said Jaime Lannister, not caring to look at the dead carcass of the last King, his father.

"It was my sword hand," said Rhaegar, mournfully. "I can never win tourneys again," 

_Nor can I crown again my beloved as the Queen of Love and Beauty_

The light shone brightly at Ser Jaime Lannister's face. His golden hair was blowing in the wind and his eyes were green, brighter than wildfire. They danced as they met Rhaegar's and his lips curved cruelly as he smiled. There was no sound but the golden lion was laughing, laughing at his dead father's corpse. The shadow passed and Ser Jaime was his brother again, inquiring about his wounded hand. Yet Rhaegar could never forget.  _Never trust lions_ , his father had said, _not even one as bright and fair as the sun_. _  
_

 

 

****

 

"We shall have to invade the Reach. We shall have no choice." Jon Arryn said in the small quiet voice. "It shall give us enough time. The Tyrells shall head back to their home, With the siege broken, Stannis shall secure Storm's End and perhaps he can come to our aid. He is an able battle commander and can help turn the tide."

Lord Arryn was tired and old. _So old_. There were dark circles under his eyes and he looked hollow. Robert's near loss has devastated him. Eddard could scarcely believe his wife was Lysa,  Cat's little sister, a small puny girl who looked so young, so sad and wept so loudly on her wedding day. Cat had looked stoically at her weeping sister as had he. He understood her sorrow at marrying good honorable Arryn, older and greyer than her father but her cries had brought back all his old fears of inadequacy. He was no Brandon Stark.  He was afraid that like the other Tully, Cat would reject him, a poor substitute of his handsome brother. _She was disappointed but she hid it from coloring her face_. 

Eddard Stark listened, "Stannis's allegiance is to his people in Storm's End. Will he come to aid his brother in the rebellion? What about his home?"

"Stannis shall obey his brother if Robert sends word. What about your home, Eddard Stark?" Jon Arryn turned to him, "Benjen Stark is still young."

Eddard Stark did not want to think about Winterfell. _My men think too of home and ache as I do._ He has not seen Catelyn for so long. _Cat had promised me a son_. _I shall name him Robb and if a girl, I shall name her Lyanna_. Poor Robert. He is too sick to move yet is ever iching towards battle.The Maesters say his wound is too deep and he shall never again wield a warhammer and can never again fight in open combat. Robert loudly exclaimed that he would prefer death.  _The war has left us old before our time._

A man ran towards Jon Arryn wearing red and black. _A messenger_. He declared in a aloof voice, _"_ The King is Dead."

"Aerys is dead?"

"He played on the Iron Throne and it gutted him. They said he bled out before Ser Jaime found him and Pycelle could tend to his wounds." 

"A fortutious turn of events."

 _"_ Prince Rhaegar could not stop singing Ser Jaime's bravery. He was a true knight, the Dragonknight reborn. Ser Jaime tried to help but Aerys was too far gone. Rhaegar was injured himself when trying to lift his father from the ugly chair."

"So Prince Rhaegar is now King?" Arryn asked.

 _"_ Rhaegar is now King. He will be coronated before long.  He thanks Jon Arryn for serving his father and asks for his forgiveness for his father's cruel decisions. He wants no more innocent blood spilled. Prince - King Rhaegar- is a generous man and shall agree to all your terms. He is a honorable man and seeks nothing but peace in the seven kingdoms- a truce _."_

"Does he plan on returning my sister or does he have a different idea of a truce, _"_ said Ned Stark. 

"That I cannot answer."

"Then why should we accept this truce?" said Eddard, dispassionately.

 _"_ Perhaps the lady shall answer you" _s_ aid the Messenger quietly and left. When he disappeared from sight, Lady Ashara threw her cloak back, revealed her face and looked at Eddard. _Walk beside me_ , she whispered, _I want to talk to you alone_.

Eddard could never forget the day in Harrenhal when bright eyed Ashara held his hand. He could never forget the feel of her hand, her silent laugh which taunted him as it taunted all men. He was sweat and dust and she seemed to be the Maiden in mortal form, as she weaved from man to man, dancing and playing with his heart.

Ashara, grief-stricken, pressed her hands on her stomach and touched the side of his face.

"You have grieved as I have"

"I grieve for my pack, the lost wolves. My heart is grief and it shall burst from so much pain."

"As I grieve for my love and grieve for my lost child. The war has made a widow of this maiden."

Eddard said nothing.

"My brother is the sword of the morning and he can hide nothing from me," Lady Ashara said, "Nor can your sister."

"My sister?"

"She has come to the Prince of her own will and asks you not to grieve. She shall leave her temporary confinement in two months and shall see you."

"Has she said that or has the Prince said that?"

"She sent me. The Prince has no knowledge of this and has forbidden her to speak to you till he is King. But she could bear the silence no longer."

"The why..."

"Love, for she loved. Love makes fools of us all, don't you know Ned?" she looked at him with tears in her bright violet eyes.

Eddard said nothing. He looked at the ground, the sky and finally at Ashara's bright eyes and said nothing.

"Are you angry? Or are you sad?"

Ned paused and said sadly, "She does not understand. The lone wolf dies but the pack survives."

****

  
It was not yet midnight when the news arrived by raven. Tywin Lannister has declared for Rhaegar Targareyen and had marched 10,000 men North of the Trident to Winterfell in stealth. They shall attack with those men, storm and raze Winterfell to the ground, sow salt in the fields and ravage the Northmen. Gregor and Amory Lorch were already have left a trail of raped peasants in the Riverlands. Hoster Tully had already written a horribly long letter full of fear. It was clear to a blind man that he was going to sue for peace and appeal to Rhaegar. He begged Jon Arryn and Ned Stark to bend the knee and swear fealty to Rhaegar Targareyen, the first of his name.

The Eeyrie would be the first hit. The North was protected by its distance but it was full of widows, pregnant women and children. The men have come south. T _o die for Robert's love and my vengance._

The lion had shown its true color after all. Not that it made a difference. Tywin was the hand and his son was a Kingsguard. Aerys had insulted him, Rhaegar did not. And Ser Jaime was often close to the silver haired prince so it was no surprise. _But to raze a home...and Benjen? Benjen? Will the lion end the Wolves?_

Ned Stark was the first one who spoke. "Tywin Lannister is a craven," 

"The Riverlands are bleeding already. Hoster Tully would probably be worried about the safety of Lady Catelyn. She is written to have been sent into hiding." said a Tully bannerman.

"The Eeyrie is impregnable," spoke Jon Arryn, "except by air. I am not worried about Tywin Lannister."

"I am," spoke Ned Stark. "I am worried about Tywin Lannister. I am worried about my smallfolk. I am worried about his army of sackers and rapers. My men want to go home. They want to protect their wives and their children back North." Ned Stark closed his eyes, "Lyanna is my sister and Brandon is my brother. But Winterfell is my home. I am its liege lord and if I cannot protect my own people, I cannot defend anyone at all."

"So, you shall leave us to our fates." spoke Jon Arryn

"I wish the Gods have not tested me."

He looked at Arryn, "I shall aid you afterwards. I promise, I shall. But I shall not lose my men for appeasing my thirst for vengance, my need for blood. My sister is gone as is my brother and Lord Father but Winterfell remains. I shall not lose it as well."

_Lyanna, you poor wolfish child, you have to be in this pit of vipers. The south melts us Starks, Lyanna, and you are a Stark, no matter your husband.  I cannot lose Benjen. I cannot lose Winterfell. Lyanna, I shall have to bid you farewall._

And then, he was gone and 4000 Northmen departed with Eddard Stark for the North.

 

****

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize for Aerys's vulgar talk. I feel that it was necessary to show his frame of mind and his perspective. Aerys was hardly a noble man like his son, Rhaegar. I shall try to keep incidents of vulgar language to a minimum in the future. 
> 
> I always found the accusations of Joanna/Aerys, hinted by Ser Barristan Selmy in the Dance with Dragons to be an interesting twist in the series. I always thought Tyrion was his father's son (despite some probable evidence) but Jaime and Cersei being the Mad King's children is plausible and will introduce so many delicious literary ironies. If true, Jaime, Jon Snow, Ned Stark, Bran Stark and Stannis shall all be second sons of their father and Jaime shall be the Mad King's second son since he is older than Viserys. Perhaps George RR Martin introduced the mercenary group, Second Sons, to hint at how the loyalties of the second sons shape the destiny of Westeros.
> 
> Again, if you don't like this speculation, the dialogue is vague. Aerys could just be bluffing about Joanna and he was in one of his fits.
> 
> These alternative scenes with Jaime Lannister gutting Aerys despite the lack of Wild Fire plot, I really enjoyed writing.
> 
> Ashara Dayne loved a man, became pregnant and killed herself because her brother, her love and her child perished (or so the story is told). Arthur Dayne is not dead yet.


	3. The Silver King and The Queen of Winter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> \- Benjen Stark dies because of the raid on Winterfell. An attempt on Catelyn's unborn misses its mark.  
> \- Lyanna comes to King's Landing and is married to Rhaegar in front of the Sept.

****

WINTERFELL

Poor Benjen. Dead before his time due to no fault of his own. _And his pack is no more_.

Eddard Stark found him bleeding under a heart tree near Winterfell. The mountain had crushed what remained of his face and stabbed him ten times. He was thrown with the many corpses outside the wall of Winterfell and due to kindness, he survived. He wanted to see his brother Eddard Stark before his death. Yet seeing him gave him courage and he vowed to kill the Mountain and mount his head upon the gates of Winterfell.

Disfigured Benjen with fresh wounds rode with Eddard to face the Mountain and Amory Lorch, common thugs in charge of Winterfell. The smoke from Winterfell's burning stones gave birth to a fury that Eddard never again experienced. He growled and screamed, the bound wolf, bound no more, tasting blood and tearing limbs.

He tore Amory Lorch's arms from his body. He did not laugh, he raged inside.

He tried to fight the Mountain that rides and fell, and fell, and fell. He could feel death but Eddard was so close to murdering the brute. The Mountain that rides had already killed many of his Northern men. Yet, he, Eddard, shall not die until the Mountain's ugly head falls down unto the ground with a thud.

His Benjen then understood. Howland Reed gestured to the mountain's head, then hit his own. Benjen swung at the Mountain's head. He hit his mark and then he was dead, killed by the mountain's fist which punctured his head. Starks are hard to kill but are not invincible.

Eddard burnt the Mountain's body and mounted his large ugly head onto the gates of Winterfell. For Benjen. For his heroic death killing foul men, not fit to be knights.

 

****

RIVERLANDS

Lysa screamed when the assassin she saw at the market aimed to hit Catelyn's belly. The assasin only managed to tear some strands of Catelyn's red Tully hair before her uncle Blackfish killed the assasin with his fists. "It was Tywin, Tywin Lannister," Hoster Tully said before he hid her again once more in the large impregnable Eeyrie with Lysa. She loved Lysa but Lysa was sometimes so insufferable. Cat was sick with grief and could not bear her sister's loose tongue that only seemed to be aimed to hurt her. Lysa did not mean it but she could bear this no longer.

"Perhaps my husband will live and yours shall die", said Lysa. "It would be a shame. But his days are numbered, Cat. It is only a matter of time. And poor Cat, a widow at the age of twenty with a child in her belly. I shan't bear it if my sister is unhappy." She said. She looked almost glad, with pity in her eyes.

Catelyn looked close to tears but spoke to Lysa formally. "He might be dead now, so mind your tongue." _Courtesy was a Lady's armour but she had no armour to spare._

 She touched her belly absentmindedly. He was a living Stark, she knew. She would not let any lord, no matter how strong, take her son from her. She would sooner claw their eyes out. She knew not much of war but she was made of iron. 

****

 

KING'S LANDING

The Winter Queen kissed her Silver Prince on the lips.

Rhaegar had asked for her and she came slowly to King's landing with the dying Arthur Dayne. He had no teeth and was a cripple but he insisted on riding with Barristan Selmy to the Dornish tower and escorted her back to King's Landing. The war was almost at the end, she knew. The details were scarce to come by 

She knew her brother was back in Winterfell. Hoster Tully has secretly sued for peace. She was hungry for more but the Kingsguard refused to speak and she was helpless. She had a babe in her belly and her spirit had become weak in the tower.

She was lifted from the horse by Oswell Whent. He knew of her tale and told her there was no time to spare. Fragile Lyanna was escorted to the palace and dressed in a white wedding gown by her maids. _Was she to be wed again?_ She wondered. _Perhaps in a southron fashion in front of many._

It was a quiet ceremony in the Sept of Baelor. She saw that not many attended, save the King and the _Queen's_ closest friends. Elia Martell watched her with a stoic face and she said her vows again, with her Silver Prince. There was still love in his eyes and she kissed him again.

"You shall be Winter Queen, Lyanna and you shall give me a winter maiden", Rhaegar said. She smiled. She knew abstractly that he was married but to see Elia Martell, his wedded wife stare at her with her wounded black eyes, hurt her deeply.

"Elia, she shall be your sister" Rhaegar said absentmindedly. "Being a Martell, you shall always be my summer Queen. And Lyanna, she is my queen of Winter."

Elia looked at Lyanna hurt, with hatred in her eyes. But she hid it well before Rhaegar and she smiled. "Sister, welcome to King's Landing".

He did not mean it, she wanted to say. She saw the eyes of the Kingsguard, saw the eyes of the Queen's closest friends. Save for Ashara, they looked at her with cold contempt.

**Author's Note:**

> History influences the plot, more than magic.
> 
> Lyanna Stark's characterization is influenced by the real life Helen of the Middle Ages, Isabelle of Angoulme. Elia Martell by Catherine Aragorn.  
> Robert Baratheon's characterization is influenced by Hugh IX, Isabelle's fiancé.  
> And, yes, Robert does call out Ned's name as he is dying just like Rhaegar call out Lyanna as he dies. That is because Robert really loved Ned (as a brother) more than any other man or woman.


End file.
